Off-road vehicles like ATVs and UTVs often encounter large amounts of debris, such as mud, stones, dust, snow, water, etc., and much of the debris is propelled backwards by their spinning rear tires. Conventional ATV/UTV fenders and mudguards are typically positioned above the rear tires of the ATV/UTV, blocking the debris that is flung upwards by spinning rear tires to protect passengers. Standard fenders and mudguards generally do not block debris that is propelled backwards by the tires, and they do not knock down the debris that is thrown by the tires. As a consequence, objects behind the vehicle are dirtied and potentially damaged from the debris propelled by rotating tires.
Standard fenders are also often attached to the body of the vehicle, which is often not a sturdy point of attachment relative to the vehicle's receiver hitch (i.e., relative to the strong, tubular metal bar with an opening therethrough, which may have a hitch interface such as a ball mount, clevis hitch, etc., installed therein, or which may itself be directly coupled with a load to be hauled (such as a trailer, wagon, etc.)). If they are attached to the vehicle's receiver hitch, they render the hitch nonfunctional for securing other components (such as a hitch interface and/or a trailer). They are generally also permanently affixed to the ATV/UTV without the option of removing them from one vehicle and installing them on another vehicle. What is needed is a convenient and easy to use debris barrier which is versatile enough to be removably securable to all standard rear-tow hitches (i.e., to the vehicle receiver hitch, or to hitch interfaces (such as ball mounts or clevis hitches) secured to the vehicle receiver hitch), and which deflects debris from the rear wheels of an ATV/UTV and directs the debris downward and away from the back of the vehicle, from occupants, and from objects in tow.